Floral Happy Birthday

This is my second - & (sadly) final - guest design post for the Double Trouble Challenge blog. Before I go on, I really want to thank them for inviting me to do this. It's been a blast! They celebrate their 8th anniversary on May 25th with a raffle challenge. You can create a project (or more than one!) in any of the following four categories:

• Anniversary or Wedding (yellow ticket)
• Father's Day or Masculine (blue ticket)
• Birthday (pink ticket)
• Graduation (green ticket)

So pick your ticket color & go to town!

 

Obviously, I went with the Birthday/pink ticket option for my card. May 25th is also National Brown Bag It Day, so Thing 3's optional twist for this challenge is to use Kraft or Kraft-like elements on your project. I have not done pencil coloring on kraft cardstock for a hot minute, so I decided to do that for my card. And of course, I used the sketch from Double Trouble's sister challenge, Try a Sketch on Tuesday's Challenge #696 for my design. ***Keep in mind, if you want to enter TSOT's challenge, that does not start until May 26th. So while Thing 2 gives you a preview of the sketch, do not post or publish your project before Tuesday, so you don't risk backlinking. 

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of four (discontinued) digital images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (now Creative Worship) in my collection: "Magnolia Block," "Lily Block," "Daffodil Block," & "Tulip Block." I thought they would go perfectly with the grid design in the sketch. So I began my creative process in Photoshop by creating a file with a 4 x 5-1/4" blank canvas. I brought the images in one at a time so each was on its own layer to make positioning them on the canvas easier. I had to adjust the proportions slightly on a couple of them, because they were ever-so-slightly rectangular rather than perfect squares, but thankfully it worked out in the end. Finally, I printed my design onto a panel of kraft cardstock.

 

I colored the tulip first. I had a picture in my mind of a pink tulip with streaks of darker pink coming up from the bottom of the petals. Because I was coloring on a darker cardstock, I did a base layer of a very pale pink over each petal first, adding a pale green for the stem. This allowed the darker colors on subsequent layers to show up better & more true on the kraft cardstock. I have seen this done using a white pencil, but thankfully the pink & green pencils I had were light enough to accomplish the same task. I made sure to maintain a light pressure - enough to get color on the cardstock but not enough to fill in the tooth of the paper too quickly. Once I had established my base layer on a petal, I went on with darker pinks. (I used a darker green to shade the stem.) I basically worked one petal at a time so I wouldn't get "lost," as the pencil colors pretty much obscured the printed image lines. I was tickled pink (pun intended) when I finished, as it looks exactly like I had envisioned it!

 

I went on & colored the lily, magnolia, & daffodil in the same manner. When I finished the daffodil, I felt it looked rather "mushy" (for lack of a better word). I had used a dull pinkish-purple (Prismacolor Clay Rose) for the shading, which has usually worked for me, since it's basically the complement of yellow. I guess because this was on kraft rather than white, though, I didn't get the contrast I wanted with that color. So I tested out some other colors for shading the yellow (I made swatches on the back of my cardstock), & landed on Dark Umber. Brown had never occurred to me before, but dang if it didn't work better than the purple! 😃 After I had colored all the flowers, I chose 2 light blue pencils for the background in each square. I basically colored a wide soft-edged "outline" around each flower with the darker pencil, & then blended that out with the lighter blue. Finally, to re-establish the outline of each square, I went over them with a 70% Warm Grey Prismacolor pencil, using a ruler to guide the pencil.

 

To mat my panel, I chose a pale blue cardstock that I felt went well with the blue background color in each square. Before I added it to my white A2-size card base, I stamped my greeting (from Dare 2B Artzy's "Simply Birthday" set) in the middle of the panel. I tried it first with Versafine Clair Morning Mist pigment ink, but for some reason the cardstock just didn't like that ink. So I cleaned the stamp, repositioned it on my cardstock (still away from the edges), & tried stamping with Weathered Wood Distress Oxide ink. That was too light, so I went over it with Black Soot Distress Oxide ink. Thank heavens for the MISTI stamp positioning tool! Finally, I trimmed the greeting strip out with my craft knife & a metal ruler, & glued that to my kraft panel. (My main panel covered the "hole" from where I had cut the greeting strip, so no one but you & I will ever know.) I adhered my blue mat & kraft panel to my card base, & that wrapped up this project! I am sooooo happy with how this came out, & probably shouldn't wait as long to color on kraft again.

 

I'm also entering this card in Try Stamping On Tuesday's Challenge #696. 

Birthday Blessings

The optional topping theme for Seize the Birthday's Challenge #319 is "Rainbow of Colors." I used this card that I had saved on one of my Pinterest boards as my inspiration. I don't have the exact same die that that creator used for their card, but I do have a few nested hearts die sets. I combined one of the "Nesting Hearts Infinity" dies by Hero Arts with an old My Favorite Things "Snow Drifts" die (discontinued) to create my version.

 

 

 

 

I began by die cutting the heart from Strathmore smooth bristol paper. I taped it from behind in the die cut negative to make handling it easier. I then ink blended with Candied Apple, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, & Wilted Violet Distress inks. I had to use finger daubers due to the tight quarters I was ink blending in. I made sure to begin with the yellow, since that color tends to get "eaten up" by surrounding colors when I ink blend. Thankfully I was able to keep that from happening this time. 😊

 

After I finished ink blending, I removed the heart from the negative piece, then used one of the "Snow Drifts" dies to cut it into sections. So that the pieces would line up evenly around the perimeter of the overall shape, I had to die cut a sliver between each pair of sections, rather than just die cut the sections & spread them apart. So each time, I taped the die down & ran it through my die cutting machine. Then I carefully lined the die up on the lower piece of that pair so the "top" edge of the die was a hair away from the cut line, taped it down, & ran it through my machine again. This took about a 1/16" wide slice of the heart out. Not easy, but I succeeded! To give the heart sections a little dimension on the card, I glued each to scraps of heavyweight white cardstock & cut around them with my scissors. I made sure to slightly undercut the white cardstock so that it wouldn't stick out past the edges of each ink blended section. I repeated the process one more time, & called that part done.

 

I paired a "birthday" stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "It's Your Birthday!" set (discontinued) with the "blessings" from "Script Birthdays" (discontinued) by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (now Creative Worship). I stamped both in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink onto the front of my white A2 card base. Then I proceeded to smear black ink onto said card base, so I ended up restamping the greeting on a white panel.

 

I glued my heart sections to the panel. I began with the bottom-most piece so I could make sure not to cover my greeting with it. I was careful to space them correctly as I worked my way up to the top. The top piece was actually the most difficult to position & get the spacing even, for some reason. Thankfully I had kept the slivers I'd cut out, so I just placed that in between the top & second sections for spacing purposes. Before the glue on the top heart section dried, I used my tweezers to pull out the spacing sliver, lest it get glued in place.

 

The final step was to adhere my panel to an A2 card base. I used the same card I had smeared ink on, & just adhered the panel over that side of the card base. I just figure, waste not, want not! 😉

 

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create February Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)

Happy Birthday #60

A friend commissioned me to make a birthday card for her husband. He is a woodworker, so she wanted a woodworking theme of some sort. I couldn't find any woodworking imagery per se (e.g. tools) that really worked for a birthday card, so I incorporated other elements.

For design inspiration, I perused my Pinterest board I have saved birthday cards on. I found this one, & liked the overall layout & how the greeting ran vertically rather than horizontally. So I decided to go that route.

I began with the balloons. I die cut the large balloon with a "Nesting Balloons" die from Paper Rose from cherry wood veneer paper that I've had in my stash for years. I die cut "60" from the balloon with the "Little Numbers" from My Favorite Things (discontinued), as the recipient was turning 60. I also die cut the numbers from gold mirror cardstock. I backed the balloon with kraft cardstock, & inlaid the numbers. I made sure also to add the inside bits of the numbers that had been die cut from the wood paper. For the 2 cardstock balloons with a woodgrain pattern, I first die cut the balloons, and then stamped the woodgrain with a slightly darker color ink, using the "Tree Ring Background" stamp from Concord & 9th. I cut another balloon from a plaid paper from Recollections, & a fifth from an inky technique piece that's been sitting on my desk for ages. I tied a string around the neck of each balloon, and set them aside while I worked on the rest of the elements.

For the presents, I decided to make them look like blocks of different species of wood. For the maple block, I just used a scrap of cream cardstock. I "dyed" another cream cardstock scrap with Seedless Preserves Distress ink, going direct-to-paper, for a purpleheart block. For the walnut, I used Walnut Stain to color a scrap of brown cardstock, again with the direct-to-paper technique. After drying those with my heat gun, I stamped the woodgrain pattern on each with darker shades of ink, using the "Designer Woodgrain" stamp from Hero Arts. Finally I stamped the gifts onto my scraps, using Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps' (now Creative Worship) "All Wrapped Up" (discontinued) for the 2 larger ones & Lawn Fawn's "Birthday Before 'n Afters" for the walnut block. I also stamped each gift box onto a scrap of a contrasting cardstock. I fussy cut the gifts, and then fussy cut the ribbons/bows from the plain cardstock pieces to glue on top. I also stamped the "maple" gift image onto a scrap of kraft cardstock & cut out just the tag. After I'd cut everything, I "painted" the edges with a black felt-tip pen to camouflage the paper core, & glued the ribbons & tag to their respective boxes.

I die cut the "happy" word from navy cardstock with the "Happy" die from Winnie & Walter (discontinued). I also cut it 5 more times from scraps of navy. After I embossed the first die cut with the "Woodgrain 3D" embossing folder from Honey Bee Stamps, I glued them all together for a stacked, chipboard-type word. I gold heat embossed the "birthday," from Altenew's "Birthday Builder" stamp set, on a scrap of Bazzill Icy Mint cardstock, and cut it into a label. I glued it over the descender in the "y," and added a few layers of cardstock to the end of the label that hung past the letter, just to keep it level when I glued it to the card.

I found a piece of tone-on-tone blue paper in an old patterned paper pad from Momenta. I thought it looked like a page from a notebook like a crafter would work out designs in, so it seemed serendipitously perfect. I cut it down for my background, & adhered it to a white 5x6" card base. I used liquid glue to adhere all my elements, running the balloon strings to end behind the presents. And that finished this card! It was a lot of work & took a lot of careful thought to follow the woodworking theme, but I really love how it came out in the end.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Seize the Birthday Challenge #309: Anything Goes

Inkspirational Challenge #346: "Birthday"

Ellibelle's Corner: "I Spy with My Little Eye - Something to Celebrate"

The Paper Funday Challenge #78: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Merry Christmas Mouse

This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is "Christmas Cup." I have had this panel with the "Sweet Cocoa" digital image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps on my desk for at least a year or 2, waiting for me to color it & make a card around it. This challenge inspired me finally to do just that!

To create the original focal panel, I opened the image in Photoshop & resized it to fit a panel as per an old Operation Write Home sketch. I typed the Merry Christmas words along the rim of the cup, making sure to delete the text where Cocoa's paws covered it, just to increase the realism. Then I printed it onto a piece of Canson XL Mixed Media paper. And, as I said, it has sat on my desk ever since.

I used my Prismacolor pencils to color the image, & then matted it with red cardstock. I adhered 2 scraps of patterned paper from my stash to a panel of the same red cardstock, & adhered my focal panel. I glued 3 buttons to my card front, let the glue dry (well, mostly - I did get impatient!), & then pierced holes through the buttons into my background and stitched through the buttons with white crochet twine. I had to squirt a little more glue under the buttons, just to anchor them further. (I did let that dry thoroughly!) Finally, I added my card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

My Favorite Things: "Ready, Set, Christmas"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Send a Smile 4 Kids "Holiday/Celebration Cards 4 Kids"

Cozy Christmas Card

The Fall | Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop inspired the theme of this card. I used one of the coffee cups from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Holiday Cheer" digital stamp set for the focal image. The design is based on Sketch #SC571 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I sized the cup image in Photoshop, then printed it onto a panel of Canson Montval 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint it, and fussy-cut it out.

I used my We R Memory Keepers Frame punch board to create the frame for the image from white cardstock scraps. The watercolor paper I used for the cup has a bit of thickness to it, & I didn't want it to stick above the surrounding frame. I made a few frames, all the same size, so I could stack them for dimension. I did have to trim a bit from all but the topmost frame, just so their edges wouldn't stick out at all from behind. After I had cut all the frames, I stamped my greeting - from Hero Arts' "Cozy Penguin" set - onto the bottom of the front frame. Then I glued all my frames together.

I cut a backing layer from scrap cardstock the same size as the outer perimeter of the frames, & adhered 2 pieces of patterned paper from my scrap stash to that, positioned so they would show through the window in the stacked frames. (I wanted a countertop & wallpaper look.) I glued my frames on top, & glued down my coffee cup, so it appears to "sit" on the counter. I adhered a panel of patterned paper from graphic45's "Christmas Carol" 6x6" pad to a white A2 card base for my background, & then glued my framed image onto the card.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's Challenge #125A: "Deja-BREW."

Joy to the World

The current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is a Tic-Tac-Toe Stash challenge. I chose the diagonal line with the Nativity, Patterned paper, & Embossing (heat embossing, in my case) squares.

I had an alcohol ink background that I'd done for a different card, that had not turned out at all as I'd intended. It's been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now, and I finally decided to use it for this card. The blue alcohol inks had gotten rather dark in places, & I was concerned my image wouldn't show up well. So I spritzed the panel with isopropyl alcohol & daubed it with a paper towel to remove some of the ink. To my delight, it worked really well! I then heat embossed one of the images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "O Holy Night" stamp set with Wow Perissa embossing powder. I had to be very careful with the heat embossing, since my background is Yupo paper, which is rather sensitive to heat. Thankfully, I was able to melt the embossing powder without warping the paper too much. After the embossing had cooled, I die cut it with a circle die. I cut another circle from white cardstock, & adhered my Yupo circle to that, just to provide more stability & flatten it.

I used the "Big Rays" stencil from A Colorful Life Designs to stencil my background. I inked with Fossilized Amber Distress ink onto a light yellow cardstock. When I removed the stencil, I felt the contrast between the inked & uninked areas was a bit too stark, though. So I blended over the whole panel with just the ink that was left on my blending foam. That knocked the contrast back by darkening between the rays slightly. Then I die cut the panel with the stitched rectangle from Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" set (discontinued).

After I glued my focal circle in place, I stamped my greeting (from the same set) in Lawn Fawn's Blue Jay ink. I cut a panel of patterned paper from Graphic45's "Christmas Carol" 6x6" pad with the largest of the "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I used that to mat my main panel, & then adhered it to a white card base.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's "Let's Get A-Round to It" challenge.

Dragonfly Good Vibes

I have had the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps "Dragonfly Dreams" stamp set for several months, & had yet to get it inky. I finally had some time to play recently, & decided to break out this set & try some ink color combinations. I actually created 3 dragonflies, die cut with the coordinating dies. This is one that I used on my card. The design is from Operation Write Home's Sketch #B-15.

I first die cut the dragonfly from white cardstock. This is a builder stamp set, so I just figured it would be easier to get everything lined up right if I die cut first. I started with the base layer for the wings. I chose a few colors of Distress Oxide inks, & used sponge daubers to apply the ink to the wings. I began with Salvaged Patina in the center, then moved out to Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion, Uncharted Mariner, and finally Wilted Violet at the tips. I had hoped the colors would blend more smoothly, but I think they came out OK in the end.

For the overlay of the wings, I heat embossed with Ranger Clear Holographic embossing powder. I figured it would be a great way to add some sparkle & shine to the wings. I stamped the first layer of the body with Lawn Fawn's Hippo ink, then went over it with StazOn Jet Black ink. The two middle legs overlap the wings, & I needed the StazOn ink for it to show up on the heat embossed area.

I die cut a circle from tan cardstock, & ink blended it with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, then inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink. I stamped the Concord & 9th "Weathered Wood Background" on that with Ground Espresso Distress Oxide ink.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from The Paper Studio's "Peaceful Meadows" mat stack pad to size, & adhered it to a 4-1/4" square card base. I glued my circle to the top of my card base, making sure it didn't make it taller than 5-1/2", so it would still fit in an A2 size envelope. I glued my dragonfly to that. Finally, I adhered my greeting strip, which was a gift from another card maker.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Double Trouble Challenge #121: "Punch It Out" (die cut dragonfly & circle)

Use Your Stuff Challenge #467: "Woodgrain"

Hero Arts September Challenge: "Die-lightful"

Paperfunday Challenge #45: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional Thinking of You twist)

Happy Birthday with Rainbow Scoops

The current challenge at Double Trouble is to make your own, "YouNique," background. I have a great need of birthday cards in the coming weeks, so I decided to make a rainbow ice cream birthday card. Who wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday with a 7-decker ice cream cone? :)

I first die cut the ice cream scoops & cone with the coordinating dies to Hero Arts' "Color Layering Ice Cream" (discontinued). I set up my MISTI stamp positioning tool so I could stamp the scoops in assembly-line style. I had a template using the negative space from one of the cardstock scraps that I'd cut the pieces from. I positioned the base stamp for the cone & scoop in place, & stamped that layer for each one, changing colors as I went. Then I positioned the detail layer for each, & stamped those in slightly darker colors. I made sure, after a tip from Jennifer McGuire, to let the base layer on each piece dry a bit before stamping the top layer, just to keep the detail layer from mushing into the base layer.

For my background, I cut a piece of pink cardstock to 3-1/4x8-1/4". I used the word stamps from Winnie & Walter's "The Party" set (discontinued) and Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers ink to stamp my background pattern. After I had finished stamping, I glued my cone & scoops to the panel.

I stamped my greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamp's "Happy Birthdays" set (discontinued), in Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink onto a scrap of Bazzill Icy Mint cardstock. Finally, I glued that down & adhered my panel to a white slimline card.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #458: "Something to Say"

My Favorite Things Slimline Challenge: "Rainbow"

613 Avenue Create's June Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Die Cut Divas' June Challenge: "Summer Days" (what is more summery than ice cream?)

Two Slimline Holiday Cards

The current Slimline Challenge at My Favorite Things is a Christmas theme. I created 2 cards to enter.

I used the new-to-me Hero Arts "Color Layering Snowflake" stamp set for my stamping. I stamped the first layer in Lawn Fawn Kiddie Pool ink, followed by Hero Arts Tide Pool, & ending with My Favorite Things Blu Raspberry. The snowflakes are kind of finicky to line up, but I finally managed.

After I'd finished stamping, I die cut Winnie & Walter's "Joy" (discontinued) from the center of my panel. I also die cut it a few more times from a light purple cardstock. I adhered my panel to my card base, and then inlaid one of the purple die cuts in the negative space. I went ahead at that point & inlaid the stamped center of the "o" as well, just because it's easier to do it then than having to shove it through multiple layers of die cuts. I stacked the rest of my purple die cuts on top of the first, using liquid glue to adhere them. Finally, I glued on the stamped joy die cut. I never tire of this two-tier eclipse technique. It just looks so cool!

My second card is portrait-oriented. I used components from the "Snow Globe Gala" digital stamp set from Doodle Pantry (discontinued) with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Winter Friends" digital stamp. I created a blank slimline-size "canvas" in Photoshop, and copied my image components onto that canvas. I positioned everything, as well as a greeting from "Snow Globe Gala," and then printed the composite image onto a panel of Cheap Joe's 140 lb. Kilimanjaro watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint the image. I colored the round decorative pieces with a silver paint pen. Finally, I adhered a teal layer to a white card base, & added my main panel.

I'm also entering my second card in Christmas Card Throwdown's "Snow Globe" theme challenge.

Floral Happy Mother's Day

  

I created this card for my brother & sister-in-law to give our mom for Mother's Day. I used Sketch #SC741 at Splitcoaststampers.com for my design.

After I sized it in Photoshop to fit the sketch dimensions, I printed the "Coneflowers and Butterfly" digital stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint it, following a reference photo for the flowers I found online. I also printed the greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamp set, onto a strip of white cardstock, & rounded the corners with my 1/8" We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

I die cut the image panel with a "Nesting Oval Infinity" die from Hero Arts. I adhered it & the greeting to a panel of blue patterned paper from Die Cuts with a View's "The Citrus Matstack." I added that to an orange panel from the same paper pad, & adhered a strip of an orange dot paper along the right side. That finished this super-easy-to-put-together card. And yes, our mom loved it!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #247: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge #M521: "All About Moms"

Hoppy Birthday!

  

The current challenge at Double Trouble is "Fun Fold." They are partnering with Crafting Happiness for their Challenge #95, "Frogs (or Anything Goes)." I am entering this card in both challenges.

 

I followed a tutorial for a Flap Fold card at Splitcoaststampers.com. I used Bazzill Marine Mist cardstock for the card base, & patterned paper from Echo Park's "It's a Celebration" 6x6" pad to decorate. I punched along the upper short panel with the "Scallop Sentiment" border punch from Fiskars.

 

I stamped the frog (from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Pals" set) onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored it with my Tombow markers. I die cut the frog with a We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Circles" die, & cut a mat from pink Core'dinations cardstock with a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die, to give me a 1/16" border. I also stamped the present on a 1" circle I'd punched from bristol paper, and colored it with my markers. I die cut a 1-1/8" pink cardstock circle for the mat.

 

I use a 1-1/2" circle die to cut the hole in my card base. After I adhered the patterned paper on the front lower flap, I glued my matted focal circle within the opening, adding the glue only to the bottom area of the circle. I adhered the present circle with foam tape over the edge of the top flap, as a closure for the flap. Finally, I stamped the greeting on the upper flap.

 

Inside of card

 

For the inside of the card, I cut a 4" square of cream cardstock, & added a 1" tall border of patterned paper to the bottom edge. I masked off the border strip with a piece of Post It tape, & stamped the balloon & inside sentiment. I stamped the balloon again onto bristol paper, colored it, & fussy cut it out. To finish, I glued the colored balloon over the stamped on on the inside of the card.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist).

Have a Magical Day!

  

Dies R Us Challenge Blog has teamed up with the Double Trouble Challenge for the current challenge. The Double Trouble theme is "A Magical Day," with the optional twist of using a metal die. For Dies R Us, the challenge is to use a metal die. I created this card to send to a woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall, whose birthday is coming up soon.

I recently received the "Party Unicorn" mini stamp set & coordinating dies from Lawn Fawn as a gift during my birthday month. I had not gotten to play with it yet, but thought it went perfectly with the themes of both these challenges. I stamped the unicorn & cupcake on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper in Simon Says Stamp Fog ink. I used my Tombow markers to color the images, and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

For the background, I used the "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil from My Favorite Things to add a rainbow cloud sky. I used Kitsch Flamingo, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, & Milled Lavender Distress inks. After I finished inking, I splattered the panel with water droplets, let that sit for several seconds, then blotted with a dry cloth to create some bleached spots for a more ethereal look.

I die cut a cloud from a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper with a die from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Clouds & Raindrops" set (discontinued). I lightly inked the bottom edge with Milled Lavender & did Tumbled Glass on the top, just so it wasn't so stark white.

I wanted some accent around the edges of my background, so I die cut with the largest of the "Large Cross-stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I adhered that to a white A2-size card base. I adhered the die cut cloud with foam tape, to help it stand out from the background a bit. I glued the cupcake to the unicorn, and adhered her in place. I added foam tape behind her head, & glued her flat to the cloud. That way she is on the same level as the cloud. I added Diamond Stickles to her horn & the heart topper on the cupcake, & streaks of it on the die cut cloud.

I used a greeting from Lawn Fawn that they had also sent me for my birthday month. I stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Fresh Lavender ink. I wanted a soft color to go with the whole look of the card, but that would still show up against the background. Since I had foam-mounted my images, I did use my MISTI stamp positioning tool to stamp the greeting, just in case I didn't get a good impression on the first try. Thankfully, it stamped well & I didn't have to re-stamp. As a finishing touch, I added Diamond Stickles dots around the panel, because you always need more glitter with unicorns! :)

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's March "Anything Goes" Challenge (not playing the twist).

Birthday Rose

 

I had printed the "Rose Blossom" digital image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of cotton fabric several months ago. I had intended it for a project that I ended up not doing, so it's been sitting on a shelf over my desk ever since. I wanted to paint it with watercolors, so I had coated it with Daniel Smith Transparent Watercolor Ground. I've never done this before (painting watercolors on fabric), even with the watercolor ground, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I finally decided to go ahead & paint it, then make it into a card.

To prepare my fabric, after I'd printed the image onto it, I adhered it with double-sided sheet adhesive to a piece of white cardstock. Then I added the watercolor ground. As I said, this was all quite some time ago. I began painting wet-on-dry, adding the watercolor to the dry fabric. It didn't move quite as much as I wanted, so I switched to a wet-in-wet technique. I painted one petal at a time, adding clear water to the petal, then flooding in color. That worked OK, though the paint then tended to move more than I wanted. So I ended up doing a wet-on-kind-of-dry technique. I did make sure not to paint 2 adjacent petals before allowing the first to dry, so the rose wouldn't become all one solid color.

When I painted one of the leaves, the paint ended up getting away from me a bit, & stained the fabric outside the leaf. I tried wetting that area with just plain water & blotting with a paper towel, but it wouldn't come up. So I decided to embrace that, & just added green to the whole background, again painting wet-in-wet. I like the variegated color I ended up getting.

I heat embossed the "happy birthday" from Altenew's "Painted Greetings" set with Ranger Silver powder onto a strip of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum. I cut the strip longer than the width of my panel, folded the ends around the sides of the panel, & adhered them to the back. That way, I didn't have to worry about adhesive showing through the vellum. I matted my panel with black cardstock & adhered it to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #392: "Birthday Wishes"

613 Avenue Create March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Two Christmas Cards

Christmas Card Throwdown's current challenge theme is "Sewing." I created 2 cards for this challenge.

For the design of my first card, I used the sketch from Catch the Bug's Stella Says Sketch Challenge #812. I rotated the sketch 90 degrees. I used Bugaboo Stamps' "Mistletoe Bell" image (discontinued), with a vellum overlay for my greeting. I first sized the image in Photoshop, and printed it onto a panel of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I colored it with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I used Gamsol to blend the first layer of color, then went in with more layers, finally using my pencils to burnish the color.

View of image panel under vellum overlay

 

I found 2 patterned papers in my scrap stash for the background. To provide visual separation between the image panel & the bell patterned paper especially, I matted the image panel with a 1/16" dark green mat. I used a strip of that same cardstock along the left edge of my card.

I heat embossed the greeting with Ranger Gold Super Fine Detail embossing powder onto a piece of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum that I'd cut to the same size as the image panel. I lined it up with the image panel, & poked holes along the top edge every 1/8". I use gold thread to stitch the overlay to the image panel. I adhered that to my card, and that finished card #1.

I used Sketch #SC727 from Splitcoaststampers.com as the design for my second card. I first stamped the lamp image from Inky Antics "Decorated for Christmas" set onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I die cut that with a "Large Stitched Oval" die from Lawn Fawn. I used watercolors to paint the image. I wanted to provide a matting effect, but didn't want to cut a larger oval. So I first inked around the perimeter with Speckled Egg Distress ink. That wasn't quite the right color, though, so I went over it with Faded Jeans Distress ink to darken & warm it up just a bit.

For the stitched strip, I used my We R Memory Keepers Sew Perfect tool (discontinued). I cut my strip longer than I needed, since it's basically impossible to know where the tool will pierce the holes. I lined up the Sew Perfect ruler along my cardstock, & ran the tool along that. Because the cardstock is thick, I did have to go back with my paper piercer to poke the holes fully through. After I trimmed the strip to 5-1/2" long, I followed the stitching diagram for that Sew Perfect roller head, with red & pale grey embroidery floss. I actually stitched the grey first, and realized my "error" when I went to stitch the red. I should have stitched the red first, since I wanted the grey floss on top. Thankfully, I was able to weave the red floss under the grey as I stitched, so no big deal. 😊

For the card front panel, I used one of the patterned papers from the "Believe" 6x6" pad by Authentique. I used strong double-sided tape to adhere my stitched strip to my card. I glued the oval in place over that. Then I adhered my card front to a white A2-size card base.

I stamped the greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Christmas Joy" set (discontinued), onto a scrap of the same cardstock I'd used for my stitched strip. I used an Essentials by Ellen "Stitching Lines" die to add some faux cross-stitching to the right end of the greeting strip. I cut the other end in a "v," and adhered the banner to my card.

I'm also entering my cards in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes" (first card only)

613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (playing the twist on the first card only)

Die Cut Divas: "Christmas in July" (second card only)

Merry Christmas Cardinal

This is actually my second Christmas card of the year--and it's only April. Yay, me! :) I created this card for Christmas Card Throwdown's April Sketch Challenge.

I stamped the cardinal from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Christmas Joy" set (discontinued) onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Hero Arts Soft Granite ink. After I painted him with my watercolors, I decided to die cut with the coordinating die.

I stamped the wreath & greeting (Hero Arts "Color Layering Wreath"--discontinued) onto a scrap of white cardstock. I used Lawn Fawn Sage Leaf & Noble Fir inks for the first 2 layers of greenery, and Memento Northern Pine for the last layer. I stamped the greeting with Lawn Fawn Yeti ink a couple of times, then stamped over that with Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink. (The only reason for the Yeti pigment ink was because the "c" overlapped the greenery slightly, and didn't really show up without the white "base.") I die cut that with the coordinating die. I also stamped 2 of the pinecones from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Christmas Pine" set in Gina K Charcoal Brown ink, and watercolored them. I fussy cut those out, and glued them together so I could "play" with their placement without them being too fiddly.

Because of the larger elements, I decided to make this a 5x7" card. (I did end up cutting it down to 6-1/2" tall in the end, though.) I cut a panel of patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4-1/2" wide, and cut 2 strips from another scrap of burgundy paper to go along either side. I adhered the burgundy strips along the sides of my card base, and then adhered the holly leaf panel in the middle. I die cut a circle to go behind my cardinal from another patterned paper scrap, and glued my image to that. To help the circle stand out a bit more, I inked around the edges with Pine Needles Distress ink.

I adhered my image/circle piece to the card. The white cardstock I'd stamped the wreath on looked a bit too stark, so I inked over it with Antique Linen Distress ink before gluing it in place on my card. And that finished my card. Two down...so many more to go! :)

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create #232: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
Die Cut Divas: "All About Animals"

Joy to the World

I am in major holiday card making mode now. Even so, I have only about 10 more cards I have to make to meet my goal. I made an almost one-layer card, with the only additional layer being the focal image. I based my design on Sketch #SC726 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

For the image, I used a technique I learned from a woman at Splitcoast during last summer's Dare to Get Dirty challenges. I used an A2-size sheet of glossy photo paper I got at Dollar Tree. I applied Shaded Lilac, Stormy Sky, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, & Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks to my non-stick craft mat. I spritzed each color with a bit of water, and smooshed my panel into the resulting puddles. I used my heat tool between layers to dry the ink on my panel, being careful not to melt the paper. When I had applied enough layers of ink, I used Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to stamp the image, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "O Holy Night" set, onto my panel. I actually stamped the image two separate times, to make two cards, and still had some of my panel left over for other cards. Then the magic part--I wiped over the panel with a baby wipe. I'm not sure of the chemistry involved, but that took it from dull, chalky, and frankly ugly, to bright & beautiful. It also revealed the ink colors in all the different layers. Finally, I die cut my image with a circle die.

The sketch called for paper strips behind the focal image. I decided to keep it simpler, and did ink blending & stenciling instead. I thought the "Pointed Star" stencil from Jenni Bowlin (discontinued) was perfect to go with the image. I taped off the vertical strip area on my white panel, & inked it with Salty Ocean Distress ink. Then I taped my stencil in place, keeping the original masking tape in place, and inked through the stencil with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink. I repeated the process to do the horizontal strip. Where they overlapped ended up a bit darker, just because there was more ink, but the image covered it, so it didn't really matter. I stamped my greeting, also from "O Holy Night," in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and that finished this card.

I'm entering my card in Creative Knockouts Challenge #326: "Winter/Holidays."

Happy Birthday Birds

The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is to create a project inspired by another crafter. I recently saw an inside tunnel card tutorial at Jennifer McGuire's YouTube channel & blog, and decided to make one, inspired by her design, for my mom's upcoming birthday.

I stamped, colored, & die cut several birds from Hero Arts' "Better Together" stamp & die set, that they created for Ellen Hutson's United We Flourish project. Except for the one that looks like a parrot, which I included on the inside of the card, I don't know that any of the birds looks like a real bird. So I just colored them in bright colors as I saw fit. :)

Inside of card

I used 3 dies from Simon Says Stamp's "Stitched Rectangles" set to cut the windows for the inside panels of the card. I had to deviate from Jennifer's measurements a bit, since I wanted to create 2 inside frames/layers, rather than the single one that she demonstrated. I cut & scored those panels at the same measurements she gave, but in the end, trimmed the flaps on either side down to 1/8" wide, rather than 1/4". Thankfully, I had double-sided tape narrow enough to work!

I stenciled the clouds with My Favorite Things' "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil. On the first go-around, I inadvertently stenciled the clouds on the inside back panel upside-down. I didn't realize this until I had assembled the card, though. So I cut another panel, slightly smaller than the background, stenciled it, and adhered it inside the card. I also took the largest panel I'd die cut from the inside of the front-most frame, masked off outside the stitching lines around the edges, and stenciled clouds on that as well.

For the front of the card, I die cut a mat from Bazzill Whirlypop cardstock with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies, and adhered my stenciled cloud panel to that. I mounted that onto the front of my card base. I die cut the "Birthday" using a Winnie & Walter die from red foil cardstock that I'd backed with Stick It adhesive. I lightly adhered that to my stenciled panel. I also stamped "happy" from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "All Wrapped Up" onto a strip of white cardstock, and heat embossed it with Wow White Pearl embossing powder. I cut that into a small banner, & inked it with Barn Door Distress ink. After I buffed off the ink from the embossing, I glued it to my panel, nestling it between the "b" & "r," then burnished the "birthday" to adhere it securely. Finally, I glued down 3 of the birds from "Better Together."

I used glue dots to adhere the rest of the birds, 2 branches, & the birdhouse to the inside of my card. I added a little liquid glue in a couple of spots, like where the parrot's head overlapped the upper part of the frame. Those areas were just too small for glue dots, which would have stuck the panels together. But I needed to adhere them, to provide more stability to the images. And that finished this card. It was a bit tricky, but I was able to follow Jennifer's tutorial all right.

I'm also entering this card in the Dies R Us Challenge #130: "Anything Goes with Dies Carried at the Dies R Us Store" (used Hero Arts & Lawn Fawn).

Two Christmas Cards

The current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is to make a card using a black & white color scheme. Not my usual style, but I'm always open to a challenge. I even ended up creating not just one, but two!

A card I saw on Pinterest kind of inspired the design for my first card. I knew I wanted to use Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" set (apparently discontinued), but needed some fresh ideas, especially since I wouldn't color the images. I liked the small squares forming a grid in the middle of that card. I decided to do things a little differently, though. So I pulled out my Hero Arts "Postage Stamps" die set to make 3 small panels.

I stamped my images onto a scrap of white cardstock with Hero Arts Black dye ink, leaving enough room between for the die to fit. I then used the third die from the smallest to cut out each image.

I added a panel of black cardstock across my white card base, and stamped my greeting (from Hero Arts "Merry Christmas Messages"--also discontinued) in black in the bottom right corner of my card. Finally, I added my die cut "postage stamps" across the middle strip with foam tape.

For my second card, I used the "Oh Holy Night" stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I cut a strip of black cardstock, and die cut a circle in the upper part. I laid that in the center of a 4.25x5.5" panel of white cardstock, and traced lightly around the circle. I used that as a guide for positioning my image. It took quite a bit of fiddling, but I finally got the stamp centered in my MISTI. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed with Ranger Clear Super Fine Detail embossing powder.

I stamped my greeting, from the same set, in Versamark on the black panel, & heat embossed with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I adhered the black onto my white panel with foam tape, and mounted the card front to a white card base. Two pretty easy cards to make--in fact, I finished them both in less than a couple of hours!

I'm also entering the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking: "Anything Goes" (first card only)
Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Monochrome" (both cards)

HBD2U

I've been working on cards to donate to The Birthday Party Project, which throws birthday parties for children who are homeless. This one started out life a bit differently and then went sideways, but I was able to fix things--whew! The sketch & triangle motif for the current Fusion Challenge inspired my design.

With this being a birthday card for a child, I went with kind of a rainbow color scheme. I die cut my pennants with a Spellbinders "Pennants Mega" die (discontinued), and stamped them with textures from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Texture Tiles 3" set. I white heat embossed those, and then inked over the pennants with Seedless Preserves, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Lucky Clover, & Peacock Feathers Distress inks.

I used a "paint splatter" type stamp to stamp a panel of white cardstock with those same colors of Distress Oxide inks, lining up the colors with where the pennants would go. That's when things got messy. I just went way overboard on the stamping, and hated the result. Of course, my reaction happened AFTER I had glued down the pennants, and the glue had dried! I felt the pennants got lost on the card now. So I decided to try stitching with a metallic floss on each pennant. That helped, but not enough. I tried adding a black strip along the side--still not good. In a last-ditch effort, I tried softly inking over the stamping with the corresponding Distress ink colors--that made things even worse.

I ended up using a pair of scissors to cut the pennants out from the panel, since I still liked those. I angled the scissor blades so I could cut away the background cardstock along the edge of each pennant. When I'd freed them, I then had to decide what to do! I found a piece of patterned paper from Jillibean Soup's "Saffron Yellow Pepper Soup" 6x6" pad that looked perfect. So I cut that to A2 size, adhered it to a card base, and glued my pennants down. Perfect! I stamped a greeting from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Bash" (discontinued) in Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide ink. I was glad I used my MISTI for that, because it took a few times to get a good solid coverage. Finally, this card looked good!

Let's Party Animals

I'm currently making cards to send to The Birthday Party Project, which throws birthday parties for homeless children. I created this one, inspired by the photo at the current Fusion challenge, and to some extent the sketch as well.

I chose Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Pals" stamp set (discontinued) first. I used the frog, turtle, party hat, & one of the greetings from this set. Of course, what is a party without banners? I used one of the stamps from an older SNSS set, "Borders and Backgrounds," (also discontinued) for those.

I wanted to make this a one-layer card, so I first stamped & cut masks for the animals & party hat. I cut a 4.25x5.5" panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper for my card front, & laid out my masks to help me with placing my stamps. Since the hat is the foremost image, I needed to stamp that first. I put the panel in my MISTI, lined up the hat stamp with its mask, picked the stamp up with the MISTI door, removed the hat & frog masks, & stamped the hat in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I then masked the hat & stamped the frog in the same manner, and finally masked the frog and stamped the turtle.

I masked the hat again & stamped one of the banners with the border stamp I chose. I sketched in the line along the top with a pencil, then went over it with a waterproof pen. I cut a mask for the banner out of a full-sticky Post It note, masked that, & stamped the second banner. I drew the top line the same way as I had the first, making sure not to draw over the first banner. Finally I removed all my masks to color.

I used my Tombow markers to color my images. To create shading, I added the color along the darkest parts of each image, then spread it out with a damp paintbrush. I didn't bother shading the hat much, since it is such a small image. I colored the banners in rainbow colors, inspired by the photo in the Fusion challenge graphic.

My intent had been to follow the Fusion sketch, making the tower of animals & hat the center part. But, the more I looked at the card, the more I thought it now needed a scene. So I drew 2 parallel lines for the edge of the floor & top of some baseboard, and colored them with my markers. For the floor, since I was making it carpeted, I just scribbled color onto the paper, and spread it out more evenly with my paintbrush. For the wallpaper, I used my T-square ruler to measure & draw the stripes with a light pink marker. I then colored in the wider sections with the same marker.

I now didn't have a "logical" place to put a greeting, so I decided to make a sign for the frog to hold. I stamped the "Let's Party" in Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink onto a scrap of teal cardstock, & cut it into a small banner. I cut a 1/8" wide strip of bristol paper and colored it with a pale tan marker. I used my craft knife to cut slits around the frog's arm, and slid the bristol paper "pole" into the slits. I glued the banner sign onto the pole, and squirted a little liquid glue under the ends of the pole to keep it in place. I adhered the panel to a white card base, and that finished this card. I do love the way this came out, even if it went a little sideways from my original design idea! :)